A new mixed-use, high-rise residential building will soon break ground in Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle, developers confirm to Bethesda Patch.

The Monty, planned for a lot between Fairmont Avenue and St. Elmo Avenue near Norfolk Avenue, is planned to be 17 stories high and encompass 200 residential units. The project received Montgomery County Planning Board approval for a mixed-use building with over to 210,000 square feet of floor area, including 7,700 square feet of ground floor retail and over 200,000 square feet of residential space. The building will also include 30 moderately-priced units and an underground parking garage with 211 parking spots. A pedestrian pass-through with an art concept is also planned for the south side of the building to connect Fairmont and St. Elmo avenues.

Developers the Bainbridge Cos. told Patch that a groundbreaking date is tentatively scheduled for January.  News of the groundbreaking was first reported by real estate site D.C. Mud.

Bainbridge bought the property, which had already received approvals for the project, for $20.7 million in June, according to news reports.

The Planning Board found that the project furthers the goals of the Woodmont Triangle Amendment to the Bethesda Central Business District Sector Plan, which envisions a vibrant, walkable downtown with retail and housing options for a variety of income levels.

With many approved development projects in a holding pattern because of the economy, the Monty's pending groundbreaking is a positive step forward for the Woodmont Triangle, according to Ken Hartman, director of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center.

"The county depends on revenue from the sale of housing and more people in the Woodmont Triangle means more people who will go shopping and go out to eat," Hartman said. "You can't be in a better place in downtown Bethesda – it's walking distance to the Metro, near the National Naval Medical Center and NIH, it's a fantastic community for this sort of development."

The pending project indicates developers may have a renewed confidence in the demand for housing in downtown Bethesda, Hartman said.  "Norfolk needs a shot in the arm," Hartmand said. "This is what the master plan envisioned -- we have all these wonderful shops and eateries, but no one lives there."

Hartman said he hoped the project would be the first of many to break ground in downtown Bethesda.